Women Migrant Workers

A study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) found that their hours significantly outstripped those of the general population. Citing national labour force surveys, the study says that average hours of domestic workers reached nearly 66 hours a week in Malaysia and between 60 and 65 hours a week in Qatar, Namibia, Tanzania and Saudi Arabia.

But many domestic workers are exposed to much longer working hours in practice – and this despite the fact that virtually all countries have set general statutory limits on working time of between 40 and 48 hours a week.

“No podía comer de la misma fuente la comida que había quedado de lo que había comido la familia, así que sobreviví con pan y té negro durante 15 días”, cuenta Maya Gurung, una trabajadora migratoria nepalesa, describiendo su primer empleo como trabajadora doméstica en Kuwait.

“I could not eat the remaining food that had been eaten by all of the family from the same big plate, so I survived on bread and black tea for 15 days,” recalls Maya Gurung, a Nepalese migrant worker, describing her first job as a domestic worker in Kuwait.

Maya never wanted to leave home. She was happily working at a daycare centre in her village in Chundevi, Kathmandu, Nepal when she found herself forced to seek higher-paid employment abroad, to pay-off her husband’s debts. She recalls the anguish of having to leave behind her 17-month-old daughter, 5-year-old son, and husband.

Anna worked seven days a week as a nanny for the family of a Fortune 500 company executive. She lived with them in their 5th Avenue apartment in Midtown Manhattan. Her day began at 6 when the children woke up and didn't end until 10 at night when she put them to bed and cleaned the kitchen.

She cooked meals, did laundry and tended to the children's needs. She slept on the floor in between their beds. She did not have a single day off in 15 months.